One of the main reasons most diets fail, is because as you lose the weight, you are actually losing fat and muscle. Muscle is the main thing that burns calories. If you cut your calories back too much, without gaining muscle or at least keeping your existing muscle, you will end up burning less and less calories each day. After you reach your "weight" goal, you will have less muscle, but a large portion of that “weight” is lost muscle. The result is what many people call “Skinny-Fat”. Your weight is low, and you look skinny, but you are still mainly fat and drooping skin. You will have very little muscle to stretch that skin back out.

To prevent this from happening to you, you need to weight train. Whether it is free weights or machines, you need to build muscle. There are a few things you must know about building muscle. You must not starve your body too much. Most professionals say that you must consume more calories than you burn, to gain muscle. Now I know that this may sound completely opposite of what I said in the Diet section, but if you are very precise with your diet, it IS possible to gain muscle AND lose fat at the same time. If you keep your calorie input very close to your calorie output, it is possible to build muscle and lose fat. The other main thing you need to build muscle, is protein. Most nutritionists say that you need about 1g of protein for every pound of lean muscle you have. Muscle is made mostly of protein, so you if your body doesn’t have the building blocks, it can’t produce muscle. I recommend consuming 1g of protein for every pound that you weight. That is a little higher than the recommended amount, but the way I see it, the more protein you consume, the less fat and carbs you can consume to stay on the 20-40-40 split.

There are many many workout plans, all of which are better than nothing. Again, the idea is to build muscle or keep your existing muscle. A basic 3 day split is what most beginners choose. There are many combinations, and the days of the week don’t really matter. The idea is to workout selected body zones, leaving a few days before (ideally a week) you train that particular zone again. Here is an example of a basic 3 day split:

Fig.1

Those are example of exercises that would be used on those days. You can split the days and exercises up however you would like. For major muscle groups, like your Back, Chest and Quads, you need to do 3-4 exercises. For the smaller groups, like Biceps and Triceps, you should between 2-3 exercises. You usually want to start your workout with the large groups, then finish with the small groups. I personally chose to lift weights 4 days a week. So a typical week for me looks like this:

Fig. 2

The reason you need to split the same body groups up on different days, is because they need sufficient time to repair themselves. Whatever split you choose, make sure you have a week between the exact same exercises.

The amount of repetitions per exercise also depends on your goals. Most beginners choose to do 8-10 reps per set, totaling 4 sets for the major groups, and 3 sets for the minor groups. To pack on the muscle, some people will lift very heavy weight, but only do 3-4 sets of about 4-6 repetitions. Talk to a trainer to decide a good workout for you.

 

Cardio

In addition to weight lifting, there is a little thing called Cardio. You have all heard of it, and have all done it. I, like most people, hate cardio. The main object of cardio, is to raise your heart rate for an extended period of time, in an effort to burn more calories and to help improve your cardiovascular system (heart, arteries, veins). Cardio is a good way to develop stamina and it is also good full body resistance. Despite these benefits, I still hate it. It probably has something to do with doing the exact same motion for 20 minutes straight. Instead of running on the treadmill for long lengths of time, I usually do 10 minutes on a bike, 10 minutes on the elliptical, and 10 minutes on a stepper. That helps split it up a little bit, but I'm still not fond of it. Over the last few months, I have cut my cardio back to 2 days a week, which probably contributes to my problem of losing these last few percents of body fat. When you are beginning though, it is very important to do at least 30 minutes of cardio at least 3 times a week. The best time to do cardio, is first thing in the morning, on an empty stomach. I do mine after work. Most people say that it is best to do cardio only one the days that you have off from lifting weights, but I combined the two, so I lift weights, then do cardio after that, on the same day. It seems to have worked for me.

Weight lifting is also a cardiovascular activity, because it increased your heart rate. I have come to the conclusion that weight lifting and the occasional sport (indoor soccer and golf), plus a stringent diet, is good enough for me. :)